This invention relates to an improved onboard connector (that is, a circuit board directly-mounting connector) provided with a connector housing receiving terminals (made of electrically-conductive metal) which are inserted into respective through-hole lands (made of electrically-conductive metal) in a circuit board to be electrically connected thereto.
There is known one related onboard connector (connector for mounting on a board) in which a jig receiving surface against which a press-fitting jig is adapted to abut is formed at each of terminals which are to be press-fitted into respective through-hole lands (through holes) in a circuit board, and when the terminal is press-fitted into the through-hole land, a pressing force from the press-fitting jig is received by the jig receiving surface, thereby preventing deformation of a connector housing (see, for example, JP-A-2005-222771). This onboard connector is the type of connector in which electrical connection portions of the terminals, mounted in the connector housing, are press-fitted into the respective through-hole lands (which form part of an electrically-conductive circuit pattern of the circuit board) to be electrically connected thereto.
Generally, plating is applied to an outer surface of the terminal, and when the electrical connection portion is press-fitted into the through-hole land, the plating of the electrical connection portion is, in some cases, shaved or scraped by an edge (or corner) of an inlet portion of the through-hole land to produce plating shavings (that is, plating flakes shaved from the plating). When this plating shaving contacts the adjacent terminals in a bridging manner, there is a possibility that the short-circuiting between the adjacent terminals through this plating shaving occurs, and therefore an improvement is necessary in this respect.
However, when the onboard connector, disclosed in JP-A-2005-222771, is mounted on the circuit board while press-fitting the terminals into the respective through-hole lands, a space in which the terminals are disposed is formed between the connector housing and the circuit board, and therefore there is a high possibility that the above short-circuiting between the terminals occurs.
Referring to other related onboard connectors, there is known one (connector for mounting on a board) in which recesses are formed in an end surface of a bottom wall portion (having terminal passage holes) facing a hood portion (that is, facing a mating connector), and are continuous with the respective terminal passage holes (see, for example, JP-A-2004-47323). This connector is of such a construction that when the terminal is inserted into the terminal passage hole, shavings, produced by the rubbing of the terminal on the terminal passage hole portion, are received in the recess, thereby preventing the onboard connector from being incompletely fitted in the mating connector.
The onboard connector disclosed in this JP-A-2004-47323 is designed to overcome the incomplete fitting connection to the mating connector which is caused by shavings (shaved or scraped from a connector housing made of a synthetic resin or the like) held between this onboard connector and the mating connector. Thus, this onboard connector does not teach or suggest the above-mentioned short-circuiting between the terminals, and does not contribute to improvement of this point.